Media, tech and pop culture

Since dropping out of college in 1995, I've had a hand in creating several companies. Some were successful, some not so much. They include IGN (IPO, acquisition), MyBlogLog (acquisition), Gnip (acquisition) and OneTrueFan (acquisition).

Since selling OneTrueFan a few weeks ago, I’ve been aching to build something with my hands, so after more than 10 years, I’m getting back into stained glass. The challenge is that I hate most stained glass — it’s all twee flowers and birds of paradise. I like the ecclesiastical windows a lot, but that’s not really appropriate for home (or atheist) use. In recent years, my passion has been the modern stuff, like Larry Zgoda and Maya Radoczy and even someone like Richard Elliott, who became famous for giant art installations made of reflectors. My favorite artist is Carl Powell, who’s glass work contains boundless amounts of joy and movement and whimsey.

Home for Jewish Parents, Danville CA - 7'x7'

When I decided to get back into stained glass, the style I wanted to pursue was obvious. Unfortunately, all the available stained glass patterns are that saccharin bullshit. The artists I’m interested don’t make patterns for hobbyists.

So I spent most of my free time last week in Illustrator tracing photographs of Powell and Zgoda’s glass and creating patterns of their work. I had no interest in recreating any of them because my own work won’t come close to the originals and the last thing I want is a shoddy recreation of one of their masterpieces. But the process of tracing their work was profound; after a while I felt like I had actually internalized some of their design principles.

This week my free time has been split between creating my own patterns in Illustrator and staring at images in my “Inspirations” Drop Box folder. The image below is the pattern for my first original stained glass design ever, and my first work in a decade. The inspiration should be obvious, and while it’s clearly not as good as Powell’s work, I’m excited to be taking my first step as an independent artist.

It's a start, yeah? Now I just have to render it in glass.

Next up, I’ll be picking out glass and getting cuts on my fingers again. I can’t wait!

Very interesting how the brain works. Artists/Musicians are usually the best when it comes to computer related and entrepreneurial stuff. Quite a cool / unique hobby you have there. Guess you decided to go that route than to learn how to play the bass?

10,000 hour rule in full effect. If I practiced an hour a day for three years I’d be fit to play publicly. I just don’t have the time or the focus. I still pick it up and noodle occasionally, though. Love the bass!